Soccer courses will be mandatory at an increasing number of schools across China, a move designed to achieve the country's goal of becoming a sporting power.

"Soccer never used to be prominently promoted in Chinese schools due to the academic focus," Wu Wenqiang, assistant dean of Beijing Sport University's physical education school, told China Daily on Thursday.

The development of soccer in schools forms the cornerstone in realizing China's soccer dream to join the world's elite at major sporting events, Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said at a State Council meeting.